Manifesto at Yonge-Dundas Square

SOULS OF MISCHIEF, JHENÉ AIKO, SEAN LEON, FREEDOM WRITERS and many more as part of MANIFESTO at Yonge-Dundas Square, Sunday, September 22. Rating: NNNN

The seventh annual Manifesto festival's Yonge-Dundas Square showcase felt like a coming-out party for Jhené Aiko.

Yes, there was live music from around 2 p.m. onward: energetic local emcees like TFHOUSE, Junia T (backed by a live band), Freedom Writers, Sean Leon, Blake Carrington and Raz Fresco; infectious crooning by Wolf J McFarlane and Jully Black; a ladies cypher; delightful surprise performances by Shad and Kardinal Offishall.

But Aiko, undeterred by the cast on her right wrist caused by a recent car accident, kept the outdoor audience's attention locked, despite temperatures that nearly dipped into single digits. It was cold. But Aiko's alt-R&B grooves were definitely hot. And if you weren't buzzing about her just-dropped single Bed Peace, or her feature on Drake's leaked From Time before her 9 o'clock set, you certainly were post-performance. Or at least, her name (mispronounced, mostly) was on the lips of every person in front of and behind the stage.

People are just now starting to know Aiko, but it's quite the opposite for Oakland four-man hip-hop group Souls of Mischief who are celebrating 20 years in the game. "We won the job lottery," Tajai told us between songs. "Shout out to the Canadian border patrol: they let us through in like 10 minutes." (See what perseverance and decades in the game can get you?)

Among the sidestage observers were many of the day's earlier performers, plus DJ Skratch Bastid, as well as Ottawa's A Tribe Called Red (who are up for the Polaris Prize on Monday night). And when Souls of Mischief played 93 'Til Infinity - their big hit off their big album from that year - everybody was moving, and not just to keep warm.